General purchase advice: Ask your questions/for advice here!

Ladies & Gentleman;

@Nephilim_81 , @cpp , @ProfFalkin @Lothar_Wolf

Might I respectfully suggest you move this to The Off Topic?

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IEM Nutters, @antdroid @Precogvision et. al.

Any thoughts on the 64 Audio U12T vs UM Mest Mk2 ?

Only reservation on the U12T is the BA bass. I do like the bass to be exceptional.

@antdroid would probably be your best bet as he has the MEST MK.II currently.

But personally, I didn’t find the bass on the original MEST to be particularly special. In fact, I would’ve said the U12t’s BA bass slammed harder and was more intangibly pleasing contrasted to the midrange. The latter in the sense that the midrange BAs skewed noticeably faster in transient attack than the MEST’s dynamic driver. So unless they’ve completely swapped the DD on the MEST MK.II, I’m guessing the same would hold true - at least intangibly - despite the boost to the bass regions on the new model.

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Interesting. So potentially U12T with a M15 or M20 module in then.

They are different price points here, but U12T comes up used and UM Mest is very much have to buy new. So they would end up the same.

The hybrid arrangements seem to interest me the most, but I haven’t heard a high end BA either, only much cheaper ones.

Help, Advice… Ok so playing acoustic drums and using a yamaha EA10 sound moudule. that picks up drum sounds, alters them and control volume slightly…Alos can plug my iphone into it for music to practice through. Using closed back headphone [think sennheisers 240? just ahhh] but not getting the quality of sound or volume needed. I also own Schitt DAC and Pre amp so…wondering [and purchased the new apple headphone but they didnt work at all through the EA10 came out in mono with no volume ill return them…]
1if i can tie this in before the headphone feed.
2 what would be the best headphones for me to use
3 Is there other options of pre amps or dacs that would be better.

…Or do I maybe look into the Nio?

well, around 250-300usd. What about Sennheiser HD450BTNC?

no buds, no small pieces into ears. Looking for NO audiophile hp, but for quite good sound with bt option for pc and mobil phones. Thats all :wink:

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Nooooo I would steer clear of those headphones. I tried the 458 and it has a horrible hiss constantly. Same headphones just different colors/SE. can’t believe they didn’t fix that issue

Also the momentum 3’s. Wasn’t feeling it. Fairly disappointing seeing that sennheiser produced trash like that. At least there was no hiss.

I tried a few headphones. I would suggest the Beyerdynamic Traveler/Lagoon ANC, pretty decent honestly. I would give sound 8/10 and ANC 6/10 Better than anything else I heard at that price. ~200

If you’re trying to go bigger and better, I settled with the Master&Dynamic MW65. But those are pretty pricey, but by far out perform all the BT/ANC headphones I tried sound wise. Currently they having a promo for 25% off, but it will run you 400. Also that’s the only headphone I tried that are excellent all around and performed superior with ANC on. Wasn’t the case with any others I tried. Sound 10/10 ANC 9/10.

What I love you may not. But this was my experience, I spent about 2 weeks with each of these headphones.

My comparison and not blind or professional is sound vs as close to wired headphones. ANC compared to Sony xm4, which is supposed to be the best ANC. I did have the momentum 3/Beyerdynamic/M&W all at the same time for a short period to really figure out which one I wanted.

But for sure steer clear of senns

Also consider, I got all of these headphones open box from Amazon and had no issue returning. I really wanted to try before I buy and I wanted to get what is the best to my ears. They all say damaged but nothing was wrong with the headphones. Not one to buy new open and return just to demo.

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These look interesting. I have tried airpods max, bose and sony’s extensively. Have you tried and compared to any of those?

EDIT: I mean can you provide more comparison to the ones above that you have tried (I see the sony XM4 which I had as well)

Not Bose, I don’t like Bose. Sony’s yes, those headphones are all ANC over sound. I don’t like that. I would rather buy a non anc rather than sacrifice sound.

The M&W does claim beryllium drivers, pretty sure it’s not pure “be” rather an alloy or coated. Which was the reason they caught my attention. The only thing I am not 100% sure of, but you can replace the pads, is mine comes with sheepskin pads and not the stock leather. Not sure if that’s making the sound better or worse, but with sheepskin they sound amazing. It’s not bloated or bright. Sounds like the sub bass is present as well, and I know with most Be drivers they do need some break in and they were great right out of the box. Had them running for about a 100 hours the first few days I owned them and I can’t say they got any better.

Plus a 10 min charge gets you like 8 hours of listening time and it’s about 30 mins for a full charge

I was assuming with Senn, beyerdynamic they would be better headphones as they produce higher quality products. Which is why I chose them. Seems like senn went a different route with their bt products.

The only downside to Beyerdynamic is they do not get very loud. Edit* but for 200 it’s totally worth it performance to value

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How about some specifics? What don’t you care about with Bose? And does it apply to all the models you’ve heard?

I sometimes use the ANC with no music. Just to fade back room noise. I have some early and cheap Sony ANC headphones that are great for that. Not so much for music, so in that case, I agree with “all ANC over sound” but these were $50 at Best Buy 10 years ago. I had some Sennheiser travel headphones in the $250+ range 450MMC??? something like that. They had more balance of ANC and sound, but I was underwhelmed with both.

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No real specifics, I’ve never been a headphone enthusiast until I got wired. I’ve heard most of there home theater products and haven’t been a fan. I’ve recently learned that Bose has and does have shady sales tactics like Audioquest. So that’s why I decided to pass.

I will say I have not heard the newest of the new headphones they have released. However, from this Sony vs Bose perspective that I see going on in the market space or which is the best I get the notion that people either enjoy the Sony or Bose headsets.

Now with that in mind trying Sony and not Bose may be foolish to consider them the same sound, but I wouldn’t doubt it. Just spared myself from something most likely I wouldn’t buy just to make it clear.

I won’t hate on Sony cause they don’t use deception to gain customers, and maybe they have as well. Just that I have not heard of it. But that’s the reason why I tried to the Sony just to give it a chance, I had a strong feeling I wasn’t going to like it.

Plus in addition, you can definitely say my points are biased because I only had the Elegia to go off of as that was my first and only legit headphones.

However, consider me as consumer prior to all these things I’ve learned and spending 15 dollars on a pair of headphones that if I’m going to spend 300 on headphones which to me sounded nuts before all this it better sound damn good. I tried the MX3’s a while back and preferred JBL’s yet with this new knowledge I’ve acquired I said maybe the MX4’s have improved towards what I seek now, but they haven’t.

I will say though, I have tried one Bose headphone way before all this and I preferred my 40 dollar JBL headphones that I bought for 15 dollars on sale over those. That was probably 3-4 years ago. They may have come a long way, who knows.

However, as someone who got into wired headphones and sound being a consideration, whatever sounds good to me I can’t even fully describe😂. I decided to try the company’s which do deal with audiophile headphones so I gave Sony a chance, sennheiser was obviously there too, beyerdynamic produces some decent headphones I would assume. So I tried those hoping some of that would trickle into the BT sets.

I believe it may have been you who replied to my suggestion of the Grado GW100’s that I suggested to another user which I stumbled upon. Grado held the same concept and I wanted to check them out, but never got the chance.

I actually caught M&D in an ad and I said what’s going on with these phones and that beryllium directed me towards focal, did some research and most people[reviewers] said it’s really smooth. It’s one of the most expensive and honestly I paid as much for them as the MX4’s. So I said let’s give it a shot, I’m definitely not going Sony.

Those headphones run for 549 limited edition model and were the same price on sale as Sony and I was able to grab them on payments rather than all up front as again money is an factor. Didn’t want to sacrifice something I enjoy vs what I can afford. And that’s where I am now.

I had asked earlier that I wanted get some BT as my JBL’s were old pads were done and battery was dead much quicker so I sought something of quality, I had to do my own research. So demoing was my only option to find what I like.

I totally understand where you are coming from, it’s nice to tune out from time to time. However, I was never in search of ANC, just wanted a quality pair of BT headphones on the go when I’m not in a car. But mostly everything comes with ANC now so I had to see what works the best nor did I believe ANC does change the sound but it definitely does. Not sure if it’s the tonality or frequency response.

The Beyers only sound good with ANC off and the M&D actually sounds better with ANC on low/level 1 rather than off but the difference[on/off] isn’t as drastic vs Beyer. So I was quite perplexed by that. Most people are seeking ANC + decent sound to the everyday consumer expectation. I had to work around that

All the others I tried sucked no matter what you did with ANC settings, on or off, and on usually made it worse.

Well, some of my point was that on this forum, it’s good form to try and explain where your opinions are coming from. I have a general distaste for Bose, from back in the day of the 901 Direct/Reflecting speaker. These were heavily promoted, and did give a rather unique sound. Properly positioned, they had a large (but fake/unreal) sound stage. Their design bounced sound off the walls on purpose. They had 9 5 inch subs, and measured over 10% distortion as they went into the bass. This was audible.

I’ve watched their marketing as they went to home interior sound, and came out with ANC. I have listened to the original Quiet Comfort, and the current one also. They are not to my taste, but I can understand them for frequent air commuters. The neck-mounted sound collar is actually fun.
What don’t I like about the QC? I don’t care for the reflections inside the cups and did not find the treble that airy enough for my taste. Plus the bass sounded bloated in the mid bass region with little low bass.

I’ve only listened to Sony for a few seconds at a time in Best Buy. Until I can hear them with my own sources, I withhold judgement. My feeling about Sony has been that you pay a premium for the name. This seems to apply across their product line, with the possible exception of the highly competitive DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

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Bose INVENTED shady audio marketing decades before anyone else, and long before White Van Speakers or AudioQuest existed. At least Bose was sincere in its efforts with the 901, but they stuck with their sunk costs in technology and shifted to marketing wishes and suing Consumer Reports magazine over simple enjoyment.

Long after the 901, Bose went to those micro cube/subwoofer systems. They were certainly compact and sounded fine in carefully designed demos, but…running mid-range audio through 2" to 3" speakers was never going to be great. Soak naive mall and outlet buyers for $$$$$, and they never researched further. “It said Nike, it said Bose, and it said Levi’s so I know I bought the best!!!” Bliss all around.

[You should see the look on the salesdude’s face when I looked behind a Bose “high quality audio” flat panel TV with built in subwoofer. It was about 8" deep, and he sighed loudly as I peeked…“That one mostly sells to hotels and business customers.”]

Bose Quiet Comfort was a true audio milestone and is still remarkable for the use case. Consider how long ago they came on the market. They are battery operated, and do a lot of stuff on a little power: 1) amplify, 2) generate noise cancelling signals, and now 3) work via wireless. The audio quality may not be “superior” to the Koss Porta Pro, but that doesn’t matter on an airplane or train and is way more pleasant than blasting any non-ANC device just to hear it. In my mind Sony is less evil than Bose, and those ANC’s I’ve tried perform in a similar quality tier.

I’m extremely grateful for ANC technology on an 8+ hour flight. I’m keeping my Sony ANCs for specific situations, and will probably always keep a set of ANCs around.

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You misspelled Etymotic. :wink:

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There have been lots of milestones in audio. Etymotic…okay too, but a different concept and not as good for very long airplane sessions.

At this point I’m more likely to use an er4xr for a long plane ride than a Sony or Bose. Maybe that’s just me.

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I had and sold an ER4XR – putting stuff in my ears for more than a couple hours is unpleasant. I’ve left over-ear Sony and Bose on my head with ANC engaged, but no audio for half of flight time.

Enjoy. That’s why we have choices.

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The one Bose product that I’ve had for years and really like is the original Wave Radio. An excellent piece of design. Has more sound than my old tube 1940s wooden table radio, in a nice, compact package.

@PastorOfMuppets, let me put a bug :beetle: in your ear about Entymotic.

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